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JPIWATER-Water challenges for a changing world

JPI Water - INnovations for eXtreme Climatic EventS

Alternative title: Innovasjoner for ekstreme klima hendelser og bedre vannbalanse i urbane områder

Awarded: NOK 1.8 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

258647

Application Type:

Project Period:

2016 - 2020

Partner countries:

The overall objectives of the INnovation for eXtreme Climatic EventS (INXCES) project was to develop new innovative technological methods for risk assessment and mitigation of extreme hydroclimatic events and optimization of urban water-dependent ecosystem services at the catchment level, for a spectrum of rainfall events. It is widely acknowledged that extreme events such as floods and droughts are an increasing challenge, particularly in urban areas. Specifically, INXCES has developed a Quick-scan method for flood prone areas in cities. It is based on readily available GIS data coupled with a 3D visualization, which is a key aspect of understanding the consequences of flooding on a policy and development level. Further INXCES has identified stormwater filters with high resilience for hydroclimatic extremes and coupled with high performance water treatment, as part of the deliverables under WP3. Improved understanding of the snowmelt processes and modeling of climatic influences on such processes has been an important addition to closing the knowledge gap on snowmelt in urban settings. Drought resulting in water stress changes the soil moisture content, which in turn causes changes in the soil surface elevations on a micro scale. It is possible to map these changes through linking multiple time series of satellite observations (InSAR) to hydroclimatic events. This work has been initiated in the first half of the project, and has been expanded in the second half of the project period. The INXCES project has conducted several collaborative field experiments and full-scale stress test of urban mitigation measures such as raingardens. This adds important knowledge to the evidence base of how these stormwater measures function during extreme events. Dissemination and communications of INXCES findings has been conducted both on social media through Twitter and Facebook, through the INXCES website and the regular news updates, and in academic and end-users communities through participation in conferences. Halfway through the project INXCES has been presented at a wide range of conferences attended by diverse audiences. The results from INXCES have been published in ca. 1220 peer-reviewed journal papers. The focus in the second half of the project was on: (1) Increasing the open-access publications; (2) Dissemination and communication to ensure that the impact specific objectives are achieved. An end of project event was executed together with JPI Water funded project MUFFIN in addition to the Swedish projects Radar and SuRF, with the international conference ?Cities, Rain & Risk? in Malmö, Sweden, 13-14 June 2019. https://www.swedenwaterresearch.se/event/cities-rain-and-risk/ Ahead of the end event a 2-day Climate Café, targeting young professionals, with the aim of multidisciplinary knowledge exchange by a ?learning by doing? event was arranged in Augustenborg Eco-City. Results from the Climate Café can be found at: https://climatecafe.nl/2019/01/city-climatescan-malmo-will-be-held-10-14-june-2019/ and https://www.climatescan.nl/projects/3375/detail

Utfordringer relatert til flom og tørke i byer er økende. INXCES har sett på forskjellige bærekraftige løsninger, både for implementering, vedlikehold og oppfølging. I Norge kan vi lære mye av andre lands erfaringer, samt at tiltak må tilpasses lokale forhold som grunnforhold og klima. Kartlegging av PET i felt med håndholdt XRF instrument sparer tid og analysekostnader. Dette er en viktig metode for vedlikehold av blå-grønne infiltrasjonsløsninger for overvann, som vil spare både tid og penger. Bruk av satellittdata fra Sentinel-1 har stort potensiale til å påpeke samt forstå sammenhengen mellom prosesser relatert til vann i grunnen og setninger og derav skader på overflaten. I bymiljø er dette mer omfattende enn hva anerkjent i dag. Her er det store kunnskapshull og et stort behov for videre forståelse. Problemstillingene er i dag under flere fagdisipliner hvor samarbeid på tvers er nødvendig for robuste løsninger for byer Utdanning av fremtidige problemløsere er veien å gå.

Hydroclimatic extreme events can produce urban flash flooding and droughts. In urban areas, anthropogenic activities above and beneath the terrain surface significantly alter the natural state of the water balance. Concrete and asphalt covering the ground, results in increased peak flood discharges and degraded water quality, through the entrainment and transport of pollutants (metals, organics and pathogens etc) and suspended particles. Inadequacies of urban drainage system can further spread contamination through combined sewer outflows. This polluted runoff threatens the health and function of aquatic ecosystems. Physically, flooding can cause damage to urban and vital communication infrastructure, which can cause severe financial strain on municipalities and insurance providers. To incorporate a greater resiliance for hydroclimatic extrems in storm water management it is necessary to improve the current state of the art for pollutant removal. The low cost methods(LCMs) should be able to handle a larger variance in flow with the option to treat greywater during droughts. Beside flooding, droughts are the other extreme, which coupled with extraction, also decrease groundwater levels in cities where public water supply depends on groundwater. Therefore, INXCES aims to deliver nature-based and innovative tools(3D visualisation) to make catchments more resilient to hydro-climatic events. The project will deploy satellite based radar analysis to study the ground movement under drought conditions, and assess its risk to urban infrastructure. The project will study hydraulics, redox and adsorption processes in LCMs to improve their robustness and design flexibility. Furthermore, to mitigate LCM's potential environmental impacts, project would study their life cycle impacts.Finally, the project will explore ways to mitigate risks of ground subsidence by developing recharge strategies i.e. collecting flood water and/or treated grey water for active infiltration.

Funding scheme:

JPIWATER-Water challenges for a changing world